Hello All. This is my first post and it may be too general of a question. I have a 30’, 5th wheel, 2021 Reflection, 50 amp and I boondock for 2 months at a time, 2 or 3 times a year. I’ll be installing 400 -600 watts of solar. I was going to replace my batteries with a 200 ah SOK lithium battery. There’s no inverter in my Reflection so I’d have to install/purchase that as well as upgrade my power converter. I’d have to install all wires, fuses. etc. And, I’m not very knowledgeable about all this stuff.
My question is; from a boondocking perspective, what would I gain or lose by using an AC200Max instead of installing all the components myself? Would I be able to plug my RV’s 30 AMP power cable (step down) into the Bluetti (like plugging into a power pedestal), and using the Blueitti to power the whole RV until the battery runs down? Is that a reasonable solution or am I missing a lot?
Thanks in advance for the help, John.
Yes you can power the whole RV up to the power limit of the AC200 Max. The on board AC to DC power converter that also charges your coach batteries will consume a large amount of power if your coach batteries are low. You can get around that by flipping off the circuit breaker in your RV to turn off the on board battery charger and keep it from drawing power. There is nothing wrong with your on board power converter being fed by the AC200 Max but just be aware that it will consume around 300 to 400 watts while charging which is a pretty good size load which will run the AC200 Max battery down sooner.
Thanks Scott. That’s great information! I had wondered about the power converter pulling from the batteries. I’d just have to find the breaker to shut it off. I do have a 200 watt suitcase solar system and a 2000 watt generator. What would happen if I attach the suitcase to my house battery just to keep that fully charged and left the power converter turned on, and then use the generator to recharge both batteries if I hit a bunch of shady days? Will that do anything bad to the charger or the batteries? Or is it just as easy to turn off the converter? Thanks again for the help.
You can leave the solar suitcase attached as described or use the generator to charge the batts. But…be aware many travel trailer power converters only put out approx. 10 of charging power for house battery charging. If that is the case with yours it would take many hours to charge the house batteries with the generator running. I suggest looking up the specs of your specific converter model number and see how many amps the charging circuit is. This is a different circuit than the DC power output for the lights, pumps etc. When I had my RV’s I swapped out the converter for an upgraded model that gave me 55 amps of battery charging power so that I could keep my generator run time to a minimum. Iota DLS-55 was was the brand name and model of the converter / chargers I used. Purchasing a 20 to 30 amp stand alone (LITHIUM) battery charger would also keep the generator run time down and probably be the easiest option.
Here is what I was using and still use for my home battery charger. I liked it so well, I kept it when I sold my RV and re-installed the one that came with the RV.
But…and it is a big but…The model of Iota power supply / charger is not compatible with Lithium batteries. You would need to get a model specifically able to handle the charging profile that a lithium battery needs.
Thanks again, Scott. I’ll check into your suggestions. John
I use my AC200 to run my class c 31’
I made a cord 10gage with a 30 amp female on one end (shoreline) and a 20amp male on the other. I plug the male into the AC200 110v outlet. I didn’t disconnect my on board charging as Scott suggests. The bluetti keeps the house batteries topped off when I turn it on in the morning to fire up the coffee maker. The house batteries take 3-400 w for an hour or so then drops to less than 100-0.
That drops the AC200 about 30-40%.
I usually can get it back to 100% by 1-2:00pm with FL sun. If I get rainy/cloudy days I can run my onboard generator (4000w) for 3-4 hours and charge the AC200 with the ac brick while also topping off the house. I only ran my generator 5-6 times all winter.
I did the same as you for the same reasons and have been perfectly happy with a 100% portable option. I use sp120 foldup panels and 2 100w hqst they don’t 100% match but work fine most of the time. Parallel. Over panel the roof mounts or you’ll lose some pv or make them tiltable. That’s why I keep my panels portable. I’ll get them in the sun wherever it is 
I have surplus often and make sure I am charging EVERYTHING. Drone, ebikes, phones, etc.
Sounds like you have the perfect set up for your rig. I like that you are able to top off the house batteries as well. Some people will complain that efficiency is lost with charging a battery off of the AC200 but I am of the mindset that efficiency is much less important to me than convenience, simplicity and not running out of battery power. Sounds like you have that covered.
Yep. If I run solar I take full advantage of it. Just keep 2 house batteries 175ah charged up. That’ll run my furnace all night along with a couple lights. The ac200 stays off most evenings and is ready for the morning coffee duty